First, can I apologise to my readers for a little “mission creep” in this blog? I’m afraid the politics of the last few months in Britain have been way too fascinating and I realise I have strayed into commenting too much on them rather than the central concern of this blog – public management issues. I will endeavour to correct that in the next weeks and months, but first…..

Is it just me or has some of the commentary on the Ed Miliband and David Miliband saga been just slightly north of daft? Continue reading “Oh Brother” →

To coin a phrase, I agree with Nick (Clegg) – two Ed’s are better than one.

Now Ed M has won the Labour leadership, it would clearly be to Labour’s advantage to make Ed Balls the Shadow Chancellor. Continue reading “For Labour, Two Ed’s are Better Than One” →

Is it just me, or does the dominant mood music from Labour’s potential leaders sound rather like  “it weren’t me, guv”?

I focus on Labour for purely expedient reasons – I haven’t been a member of any party for many years and have no party loyalty to any of them. I’m using Labour merely because they are now the sole major opposition to a Government that appears hell-bent of re-shaping the State in fundamentally regressive directions. Continue reading “Labour’s Leadership Contestants – “It Weren’t Me, Guv”?” →

Education Secretary Michael Gove is learning a painful lesson – things go wrong in government. One could almost be sympathetic, if it wasn’t for the sanctimonious way in which Coalition Ministers have been gleefully highlighting every little, and big, error of their predecessors in the Labour government. Continue reading “Things Gove Wrong In Government” →

The sudden announcement that Sir Alan Budd is to leave the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) after only 3 months may fatally wound the already less than fully credible flagship reform introduced by Chancellor George Osborne. Continue reading “Off Budd (Office for Budget Responsibility)” →

My advice to the Labour leadership contenders – admit Labour will never win a General Election again. It’s not as painful as it sounds, because nor will the Tories. The age of one-Party rule is over, and the sooner Labour admits it the sooner they can develop a realistic strategy for government and for opposition. The Tories have stolen a march on Labour precisely by grasping this fact and acting on it – perhaps out of necessity, but one they have quickly turned into a virtue. Continue reading “To Potential Labour Leaders: First, Admit You Can’t Win” →